Doug Cornelius on compliance for private equity real estate
San Diego-based ANI Development LLC, its principal, Gina Champion-Cain, raised hundreds of millions of dollars from investors to make short-term, high-interest loans to parties seeking to acquire California alcohol licenses. The SEC alleges, the investment opportunities were shams and diverted directed significant amounts of investor funds to other uses. Under California state law, liquor license … Read more »
I saw the recent case against Landon M. Smith for operating a real estate offering fraud and Ponzi scheme and jumped in to see if I could learn anything from the case. According to the SEC complaint, Smith held himself out as a “property wholesaler” who could earn significant returns on any funds invested with … Read more »
Facebook is looking to get into banking. Or Cryptocurrency. Whatever you call it, Facebook is looking to launch a global currency: Libra. The big problem is mashing together the current lack of trust in Facebook with the hype of blockchain technology. As a result, Libra talks little about Facebook and lots about blockchain. It’s not … Read more »
Of course the lawyerly answer is: “maybe.” Ronald Duane Dunham challenged his criminal conviction for securities fraud, arguing that the Cherokee Village lots he sold did not qualify as securities under the California Corporation Code. Mr. Dunham got in this position by persuading a number of elderly victims to invest over a million dollars with … Read more »
Actions by the Securities and Exchange Commission against real estate companies will catch my attention. A recent complaint against Robert Morgan and his affiliated real estate funds did just that. The SEC complaint is just charges, so we don’t know if the statements are true or what Morgan’s response will be. I’m just using it … Read more »
To show the markets that the Securities and Exchange Commission is not just about slapping around wrong-doers, but also trying to help people navigate the securities laws, the SEC’s FinHub published a framework for analyzing whether a digital asset is a security. The framework is not intended to be an exhaustive overview of the law; rather, … Read more »
Apparently, the blockchain makes everything cooler as a way to invest. Even securities laws shouldn’t get in the way. Reginald Buddy Ringgold, III thought he had escaped from the grasp of the SEC when a court refued to issue a preliminary injunction against his Blockvest ICO. The court changed its mind and slapped an injunction … Read more »
Last month, I wrote about the complaint filed by Securities and Exchange Commission against Reginald Ringgold and his Blockvest initial coin offering. One of the Blockvest’s marketing ploys was to note its membership in the Blockchain Exchange Commission. The SEC managed to obtain an emergency court order to halt a planned initial coin offering of … Read more »
The Securities and Exchange Commission says “no.” My first question is what is a mutual water water company? From my view here in New England water comes from the municipality or your own well. California is big and creating whole new communities. In this case, the Tesoro Viejo Master Mutual Water Company is being formed … Read more »
Todd Hitt wanted to be big-time, but his lies have landed him in handcuffs. He claimed that the firm he founded, Kiddar Capital, had over $1.4 billion in assets under management, offices in Falls Church, Houston, Palm Springs, and London, and was put $6 million of the firm’s money into developing a Herndon, Virginia building … Read more »